A Walking Tour: Architectural Bombness

I woke up, grabbed the guidebook and started walking. Not far along, I ran into these awesome recycling things in the street. They were the first I've seen in Buenos Aires. Most of the recycling is done through an inefficient system with Cartoneros.

Then, I went to this cool-looking Victorian House, and normally people can go in for free to look at 18th century bathrooms and stuff, but it’s been closed down due to Gripe A (Swine Flu). So, I took some pictures of the lovely architecture and continued on my way down Avenida Cordoba toTeatro Colon, another old building where opera shows are held. At least, I think its opera shows.
Next up on my tour of architectural wonders, I stopped in at McDonalds. I had heard that Mickey D’s tasted better in Argentina because of the high quality meat that the country’s known for, and somehow I hadn’t tried it yet, so I got a McFiesta from the $4.5 peso menu (equivalent of the dollar menu). It seemed like a regular burger to me...

McDonald’s also made me realize a huge cultural difference: in the US, the two main flavors of frozen yogurt in McDonalds are vanilla and chocolate. In BA, the flavors are dulce de leche and vainilla! Dulce de leche is the chocolate of Buenos Aires! I was wondering my chocolate was so expensive and why I didn’t see it that often because I thought everyone loved it, and now I know! The ad for fro-yo was Hace tu vide mas DULCE – make your life more sweet. : )

Then I walked down 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world with 16 lanes!! Crossing the street was kind of like a game because the cars don’t really stop for people or pay attention to the stop lights so when you get an opening, you have to run as fast as you can to the other side. And when there are 16 lanes, it’s def a challenge. When I safely reached the other side, I snapped a close-up picture of the obelisk, which was raised to celebrate Ar’s Independence day (Though I’m never a hundred percent sure here).

I had been hearing a lot about Calle Florida, a street in downtown Buenos Aires that is filled with shops so I followed my map there, and entered a street bulging with theaters and tons of clothing stores. The air was filled with yucky smoke smells and pollution. There was one section with a bunch of people selling jewelry and goods on top of blankets. One guy tried to sell me a head-scratcher via demonstration, and even though he ruined my hair, I’ll admit that it felt pretty good! That guy could prob use a lesson in marketing. When I finally emerged from that New Yorkish street, I sat down on a fountain and low and behold, I saw a Starbucks! That made me miss home a little.